Children's theatre research: Theatre

In this clip, we can see that in Dora the explorer, they use song and dance to portray how they are feeling and what they are going to do. This helps the kids stay engaged throughout the piece and stay entertained whilst they watch the performance and it also makes sure that the story keeps on going at a reasonable place with it making sense. We should use this because the kids will then stay entertained and it will also meant that the story can progress at a reasonable pace in an entertaining way. This will also break up the performance so that our whole piece isn't just dialogue making sure that the kids don't get bored.

They also break the fourth wall a lot with lots of audience interaction so that the kids can get involved and feel like they are part of the story and feel like that they have helped the characters out leading to them also feeling happy after the performance as they have helped the character through the story. We must do this because this is the thing that keeps kids engaged throughout the whole story and make them feel like they are part of the story and makes sure that they always know what is going on. This also makes the kids feel like they have achieved something and make them feel welcomed on the journey that they are experiencing with us.

They also use exaggeration with everything that they do meaning that they make every gesture that they do big and over the top. The fact that they do this might mean that to the adults, it looks a bit weird and unrealistic but to the kids it helps them understand what is happening and helps them to enjoy what they are watching. I think we should use this sometimes as it would help them stay focused on the story but if we do this all the time, it may look a bit stupid after a while and the kids may not understand as we may be overdoing it.

YouTube clip: http://youtu.be/lRymeAEFhuw